Lift truck



June 18, 1940. BELL 2,204,880

LIFT TRUCK Filed ma 'lo, 1959 Fig. 2.

v INVENTOR. Albert B11 ATTORNEY.

Patented Jim 1a, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC LIFT TRUCK Albert Bell, North Hollywood, Calif., assignmto Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, Beverly Hills, Calif., a corporation of New York Application who, 1939, Serial No. 272,861

7 Claims. (Q1. 272-21) This invention relates to trucks and deals particularly with a small truck having elevating means thereon.

The invention to be described hereinafter has been designed particularly for use in the motion picture industry, but may find usefulness in other fields for moving purposes. To'those versed in the art of motion pictures, it is known that a.

set is ordinarily made up of finished sections that are assembled on the stage to form a completed set. These parts usually consist of wall sections that are moved into position and joined with other wall sections to form as much of the set as is desired for each shot. A great many occasions ll arise where certain sections must be removed to permit certain shots. Such walls are ordinarily called wild walls? Even a few minutes delay in removing these sections becomes expensive, since the whole production unit is ordinarily in- 20 active until the cameras are again lined up for action. My invention comprises means which may be attached to a wall section for quickly moving the section into and out of position with a minimum of labor and a maximum conserva- 25 tion of floor space.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a truck, which in the motion picture industry has been termed a wild wall jack, that may be detachably mounted on the wall and,

so by simply maneuvering the truck itself, the wall may be raised or lowered from the floor and may be carried by the truck to any position desired. The device in its preferred form is simple, easy to operate, inexpensive, and part of its par- 5 ticular usefulness resides in the fact that it folds out of the way when not in use.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as the description proceeds in conjunction with the drawing, in which:

40 Figure 1 is a side elevation showing how my truck operates to lift and carry a wall.

Figure 2 is a. top plan view of the same; and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

45 In Figures 1 and 2, I have shown how my truck may be attached to a wall for raising and moving the wall from place to place. Under ordinary motion picture construction, a set wall comprises a flat surface generally designated ll, made up 50 of units which, in this art, are termed flats. The ordinary method of mounting these flats consists in fastening them to a so-cailed lower sleeper generally designated l2, and an upper sleeper generally designated i3. The sleeper l2 II is located at a definite distance from the lower end of the wall, and the sleeper I3 is a definite distance above the sleeper I2. Between the sleepers I2 and I3, there is incorporated a vertical member It, generally a 2 x 4-piece of'lumber. My truck has been so designed that it may be 5 attached to the vertical member I for carrying the wall ii. The truck itself comprises a base member i5, under which are mounted casters l6 and I1. Upon the base I5, I fixedly mount an upright standard It and hold the standard 10 i8 rigid with respect to the base i5 by means of a brace I8. The manner of mounting the standard l3 and the brace I9 is immaterial, insofar as the invention is concerned, since they may be welded in place or bolted in place, whichever is found most convenient. Upon the standard i8, I provide two rotatable, sliding collars 20, which are identical in all respects, said coilars having leaf extensions 2|, which are adapted to be attached to the member it by means of nails or screws 22. Under this arrangement, the

upright standard It is-aligned with the member It, thus holding the standard vertically, and the base I! may be swung in either direction, as indicated'by the arrows 23 and 24 in Fig. 2. Also, 25 on the standard I8, I fixedly mount two cam collars 25, identical in all respects. The cam collars have high points 26 adapted to engage under the lower edge of the leaves 2|v and are so positioned upon the standard |8 that, when 30 the base it is substantially at a right angleto the wall II, the high points 28 of the cams 25 are directly under the leaves 2|. It is to be understood that at the time of attaching the leaves 2| to the member It, the wall must rest upon the floor and the base l5 must be swung so that the hi h points on the cam do not come under the leaves, thus allowing the collars 20 to rest directly upon the cam collars 25. As shown position, I may incorporate a rod 21 swivelably mounted upon the base l5 and adapted to be hooked into an eyelet'23 in the sleeper I2. In addition, I may also use weights 29 so formed with holes that they are adapted to slip over pins 30 and be held in position. The number of weights used will depend upon the size and weight of the wall to be moved.

In operation, the truck is first brought alongside of the wall in either of the dottedv positions shown in Figure 2. When in this position, the collars 20 are ofi the high points 26 01 the cam 25 and, in this lowered position, are attached to the member I. In practice, two or more trucks are needed for each wall, and so long as the wall is in a fixed position, the trucks remain folded against the wall. The trucks may be removed from the wall as soon as the wall is in a fixed position or they may be left folded against the wall in an out-of-the-way position. To move the wall, it is only necessary to swing the trucks into the full line position shown in Figure 2, and to lock the trucks in this position by means of the rod 21, whereupon the wall may be easily moved to any desired location and dropped into position by simply folding the trucks back against the wall again.

A truck of this natureis peculiarly adapted for moving walls of the character described, inasmuch as it requires but very little space when folded into the inoperative position, and is a quick, eflicient means of raising and carrying a wall. It is to be noted that the truck comprises but two casters and altogether is a simple, in-

expensive, effective means for the purpose described.

I claim:

1. A lift truck comprising a base member supported upon casters,- a substantially vertical standard fixedly mounted upon said base, collars rotatably and slidably mounted upon said standard, means for attaching said collars to a wall, and cams fixedly attached to said standard adapted to raise and lower said collars upon swinging of said base member.

2. A lift truck comprising a narrow elongated base member, a caster swivelably mounted near each end of said base member adapted to support the same, a substantially vertical standard fixedly mounted upon said base member, collars rotatably and slidably mounted upon said standard, means for attaching said collars to a wall, and cams fixedly attached to said standards adapted to raise and lower said collars upon swinging of said base member.

3. A lift truck comprising a base member supported upon casters, a substantially vertical standard fixedly mounted upon said base, col-L lars rotatably and slidably mounted upon said standard, said collars having leaf extensions adapted to be attached to a wall section, and cams fixedly attached to said standard adapted to engage under said extensions to raise and lower said collars upon swinging said base member.

4. A lift truck comprising a pair of collars adapted to be attached to a wall in substantially vertical alignment, a standard rotatably arranged in said collar, a base having,casters thereon for supporting said standard in said collar, and cams on said standard adapted to engage said collars and raise and lower the same upon rotating said standard in said collar.

5. A lift truck comprising a two-wheel base member having an upright standard thereon, means for attaching said truck to a wall to raise and lower the same by swinging said truck about said standard as an axis, said means including rotatable, slidable collars on said standards adapted to be attached to the wall and cam members on said standard arranged to raise and lower said collar upon swinging said truck.

6. A lift truck comprising a base member supported upon casters, a substantially vertical standard fixedly mounted upon said base, collars rotatably and slidably mounted upon said standard, means for attaching said collars to a wall, cams fixedly attached to said standard adapted to raise and lower said collars upon swinging of said base member, and means for holding said base member fixed with respect to swinging when said collars are in raised positions.

7. A lift truck comprising a base member supported upon casters, a substantially vertical standard fixedly mounted upon said base, means for rotatably attaching said standard to a wall, and means coacting between said attaching means and said standards for raising and lowerli)ng said wall upon swinging of said base mem- ALBERT BELL. 

